Computer systems are increasingly being used in the workplace to prepare and store documents of a sensitive nature. In other applications, computer systems are coupled with telephone lines to transmit prompt messages over the telephone network to enable a calling party to access a business system and to instruct the calling party in the use and operation of the accessed business system.
Due to the sensitive nature of business operations, it is often necessary that a user of a computer system and a calling telephone party accessing a computer system over the telephone network be assigned a password intended to enable user access to the computer system. The use of passwords function both to deny access of the computer system to those that are not assigned passwords and to grant access to the password holder.
Business computer systems are arranged to record and store passwords and function to prompt a user of the system for the user's password. Typically, the user enters the password onto a keyboard and the system compares the entered password with previously enrolled passwords and enables the user to access the system when the entered password matches a previously enrolled password.
In voice operated computer systems used both in business and with computer systems coupled with the telephone network, user and calling telephone party passwords are recorded and stored as voice templates in the system data bases. Typically, the computer system prompts the user or calling party to select a password and to enter the selected password by speaking the selected password into input apparatus of the computer system. The system responds to the initial entry of the spoken password by assembling a voice password template which is stored in the system data base. In subsequent use of the system, each user or calling party is prompted to verbally speak the user password. Each entered user spoken password is compared with the previously recorded and stored password templates to determine the validity of the user entered password. When there is a match of the user entered spoken password with a previously recorded password, the system grants access to the user.
A problem arises in present speech password systems in that a considerable amount of data base space is required to store a voice password template and system time required to access each recorded and stored voice password template. The problem is compounded when the computer system is required to record and store a large number of voice password templates for subsequent user and calling party use. Accordingly, a need exists for a computer system arranged to record and store user and calling party voice password information in a format requiring a minimum of system storage and which can compare an entered spoken password with the recorded and stored password information in a minimum of time to provide access to the system.